Nearly $52,000 Raised for Cat Health Research Through Innovative Partnership

There are no record books which add up numbers of cats microchipped ” but it’s likely that that the 51,984 cats microchipped and enrolled in HomeAgain from June 1st through August 31st likely sets a record.

This summer the Winn Feline Foundation teamed up with HomeAgain Proactive Pet Recovery Network to enhance awareness of the importance of microchipping cats. “I feel like a microchip preacher,” says Winn board member, newspaper columnist and radio show host Steve Dale, who has publicly been out front to support microchipping. “Listeners and readers often responded, ‘Oh, I never thought about microchipping my cat ” especially if she’s indoors.”

“Data shows that even indoor cats do get out,” says Winn President Dr. Susan Little “Cats can become separated from their people in an emergency, such as a tornado, hurricane, fire or flood ” a microchip may be your only chance of getting your cat back.” In addition to the awareness program, HomeAgain donated $1 for each cat microchipped over the course of this summer to the Winn Feline Foundation.

“Our mission at HomeAgain is to save pets’ lives, so we are pleased to have had this opportunity to partner with Winn to help cats by raising awareness of the importance of permanent identification and through feline health research,” says Steve Shell, vice president and general manager HomeAgain. “Just 22 percent of pets in the HomeAgain Pet Recovery database are cats. But cats actually outnumber dogs as companion pets in the U.S. Unfortunately, cats are not as well identified as dogs, either with collars and tags, or with microchip registration, which puts cats at a great risk of never being reunited with their owners, if lost.”

HomeAgain’s contribution is important,” adds Little. “Just as fewer cats than dogs are microchipped, less money goes to fund cat health studies than dog health studies. This is the kind of solution that benefits all cats.”

About Winn Feline Foundation
The Winn Feline Foundation is a non-profit organization established 40 years ago to promote the health and welfare of cats through education and research. Veterinarians and cat owners benefit every day from research funded by Winn. For more on cat health, visit www.winnfelinehealth.org.

About HomeAgain
Since 1995, HomeAgain has been a leader in companion animal identification and lost pet recovery. Debuting in 2006, the new HomeAgain Proactive Pet Recovery Network is a proactive lost pet service that actually mobilizes veterinary clinics, shelters and volunteers at the first alert of a missing pet. With HomeAgain, a lost pet is successfully recovered approximately every six minutes. To date, more than six million pets in the United States have been enrolled in the HomeAgain program, resulting in more than 500,000 successful recoveries.” For more information, visit www.homeagain.com. HomeAgain is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Schering-Plough Animal Health Corporation.